News / DSV could face $16m bill after helicopter is written off in haulage accident

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A haulier looking for a truck stop could cost DSV some $16m, after the helicopter he was transporting hit an overpass, causing total loss.

A case filed in US law courts last week revealed that the lead escort driver, accompanying the trucker hauling a Sikorsky helicopter from Brunswick, Georgia, to Lafayette, Louisiana, in September, deviated from the agreed route, owing to truck restrictions at Baton Rouge.

The escort lead carried a pole to reflect the height of the helicopter following by truck, which “hit and tapped the bridge”. The driver claimed to have radioed a warning to the semi-driver – who denied receiving the message. Instead of waiting to check that the semi-driver did not try to pass under the bridge, the escort continued – as did the semi-driver.

“The helicopter struck the overpass at the third bottom beam, causing substantial damage,” noted plaintiff Heli-One, which had contracted the movement to DSV.

Meanwhile, Dole Chile is suing MSC for $1m, claiming it ruined shipments of grapes, with eight ships named in the case. It claimed MSC and terminals in Philadelphia and New Jersey had “failed to properly plan for, and to have in place adequate facilities to provide for, the prompt fumigation of the cargo”.

“Terminal defendants improperly gave fumigation, warehousing, handling and storage preference to others, thereby resulting in delayed fumigation and delivery of the plaintiff’s cargo, resulting in damage or loss of the cargo, and loss to plaintiff.”

Dole also claimed the vessels were unseaworthy and may have failed to maintain the grapes at a proper temperature.

Both cases continue.